


Public Information

by quantumlittlecat



Series: Soulmate Oneshots [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-08 19:40:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15936947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quantumlittlecat/pseuds/quantumlittlecat
Summary: Post-baking marathon, Darcy has absolutely no filter. (A soulmate meet-cute based on the first words I ever said to my husband.)





	Public Information

**Author's Note:**

> Just a one-shot for now, but maybe I'll do a second chapter from Tony's POV or extend the fic if inspiration strikes.

“You are…NOT the father!” The studio audience erupts in gasps and boos. Darcy brushes her hair out of her face, inadvertently striping flour across her cheek as well.

“Ha! Called it! Didn’t I J?”

“Yes Miss Lewis, you did say earlier that, and I quote ‘there’s no way that baby Neveah is his’. With the conclusion of this episode, I must again suggest that I turn off the Maury Show and you head to your quarters.”

Darcy huffs in frustration, furiously rolling out pastry dough on the heavily floured countertop. “Jarvis, I caaan’t,” she whines. “I still have two more pies to finish before everyone gets back from the mission. They can’t do post-mission family dinner without all the pies!”

“With all due respect Miss Lewis, you have already made six pies, and have been awake for almost thirty-six hours. I must insist you rest,” Jarvis intones.

“J, if I don’t finish the chocolate pie Clint will be so upset, and if I don’t finish the blackberry one, Natasha will…I don’t know but it won’t be good.” Jarvis is silent at that.

Darcy sets about lining the last two pie dishes with pastry, crimping the edges skillfully. As if on cue, Jarvis queues up another episode of Maury and the sound of the jeering studio audience fills the kitchen. Darcy hasn’t been living at the tower long, but had already laid claim to the best kitchen, the one in the Avengers’ common area. No one seemed to mind so long as there were always good leftovers in the fridge and baked goods on the counter. She had set about caring for Jane and slowly took Bruce under her wing too. With a steady salary and a bed that wasn’t in a trailer, Darcy was moving up in the world.

She had also started the post-mission family dinners for the team a few weeks back. She also included Jane, obviously, because not only were they best friends, but since Jane and Thor were soulmates, Jane had been included in all Avengers events. And where Jane goes, Darcy follows, so she had found herself on a first name basis with almost all the Avengers. It’s a weird feeling, to be sure, to call Captain America, a man whose poster she had on her wall as a kid, Steve, but she’s slowly getting used to it.

The thing with the pies had started slowly, with Darcy making one pie for the family dinner. Afterward, Steve had asked if next time she could make an old fashioned apple pie, and he just asked so nicely, Darcy made two pies for the next dinner, one apple, and one lemon meringue. Week by week, people started requesting their favorite pies, and, not wanting to disappoint anyone, Darcy made more and more pies each week.

This week she was up to eight. Apple for Steve, pumpkin for Jane, cherry for Bruce, chocolate for Clint, blackberry for Natasha, Mississippi mud pie for Thor, lemon meringue for Pepper, and key-lime for herself. It was exhausting. But, thinking about the team all sitting around the dining table, smiling with their favorite pies, she knows it’s worth it. Cutting the strips for the lattice on top of the blackberry pie, Darcy bites her lip, deep in thought. _You might as well ask, it can’t hurt. Even if you know the answer._

“Jarvis?”

“Yes, Miss Lewis?”

“Is Tony going to be coming to dinner with the team?” Jarvis is silent for a moment.

“I shall ask, but I assume not.”

“I figured, but I thought I’d ask anyway,” Darcy sighs. Tony still hadn’t come, even though she’d been having the team dinners for weeks now. She tries not to be hurt by it, but it stings. Especially with Pepper at the dinners now, Darcy knows it’s a long shot that he’ll show up. Their break-up had been in all the tabloids. Darcy, like everyone else, had assumed that they were soulmates. But apparently not.

 _Maybe next time Pepper can bring…what’s-his-name to the dinner. I should ask_. Darcy hums softly to herself. _But that would ensure that Tony would never ever show up_. Darcy knows she shouldn’t care so much about Tony not coming, but she’s been living in the tower for months now, and they’ve never met. It almost feels like he’s ignoring her. _He’s not ignoring you._ She rolls her eyes at the thought.

_Would you blame him though? You ran a fangirl blog about him when you were in high school. I’d avoid you too._

She moves to put the pies into the oven and lets out a sigh of relief as the oven door closes. The kitchen is a mess. She’s probably a mess too. There’s flour all over counters, dishes piled high in the sink, and the stovetop looks awful.

“Miss Lewis?”

“Yeah Jarvis?”

“I have been told to let you know that Bruce is on his way into the kitchen-“

“Cool thanks J,” she interrupts.

“-and Sir is accompanying him.”

“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Tony’s coming.”

“Correct.”

“How bad does the kitchen look J? How bad do I look? Goddamn it!”

“The kitchen has seen better days Miss Lewis. It has also seen worse. I see no reason to worry.”

“Oh god, oh god, oh god.”

_I’m probably covered in flour, smelly, and my hair looks really frizzy I bet._

_This wouldn’t phase you if you didn’t have some lame schoolgirl crush on him._

_I do NOT have a crush on him_ , she tells herself sternly. She steels herself, squares her shoulders, and takes a deep breath.

The doors slide open, and Bruce strides in, trailed by Tony, who looks rather sheepish.

“Hey Darcy, how’re the pies going?” Bruce smiles at her.

“Super great! Last two are in the oven now,” she replies. She feels her gaze pulled to Tony, but she forces it back onto Bruce.

“Oh! I keep forgetting you two haven’t met,” Bruce laughs. “Tony, Darcy, … Darcy, Tony,” he gestures between them.

To be fair, Darcy has very little filter to begin with. But the lack of sleep, combined with the marathon baking session, combined with the whole meeting of her crush has her filter blasted to smithereens. She looks Tony up and down and the thought crosses her mind, and before she can stop herself-

“You’re shorter than I thought you’d be.” Bruce laughs, and Darcy claps her hands over her mouth.

_Oh god, oh god, oh god. Can you die of embarrassment? I’m gonna die of embarrassment._

Tony looks bemused, and a smile creeps onto his face.

“Well, that’s public information, so that’s on you for assuming.”

Darcy’s face goes white as a sheet.

“No. No way,” she stutters. “Oh god I’m so sorry that must’ve been awful to walk around with.”

“You sure know how to give a guy a complex, that’s for sure.”

“Can I see it?” Darcy asks shyly. Tony grins widely.

“Sure,” he says. And in one quick motion, he whips his shirt off.

 _Goddamn I hit the jackpot_. He’s so tan, and his chest muscles are large and well defined. Looking lower, his abs are perfection. She steps closer and she can see the familiar scrawl of her handwriting on his lower stomach.

“You’re shorter than I thought you’d be” curls across one of his muscles in dark black ink.

“You didn’t have to take your shirt off to show me that,” she says softly.

“Where’s the fun in that?” He replies. “Wanna show me yours?” Darcy blushes furiously.

“Um..I-I can’t-“ she glances at Bruce. “I can’t show you here.” Tony grins wolfishly at her.

“Could I see it after I take you to dinner? Tonight maybe?”

“The team dinner is tonight, but if you come, I’ll show you afterward…”

“Deal.” Tony turns to walk out of the kitchen.

“Oh! Wait!” Darcy calls to him. He turns to face her. “What’s your favorite kind of pie?” Tony looks at her like she’s a gift from heaven.

“Peanut butter pie with graham cracker crust.”

“On it,” Darcy says, turning back to the fridge to gather ingredients for her ninth pie. Tony looks at her in awe.

As they head back to the lab, Bruce thinks he’s never seen Tony look so happy.

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, the first words I said to my husband when we finally met in real life, (we had been talking online for a long time), were "you're shorter than I thought you'd be". So, super awkward. But I guess it worked out because we're married lol.


End file.
